Be Not Weary There is Rest in the Storm

Galatians 6: 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

The Christian walk can seem long sometimes. That is because while we are in the world, we are not to be of the world. That can be a difficult prospect for us as we continue on the journey God has called us to. I have written many times; the world can be a cold and harsh place. An unforgiving landscape and bitter vista, which if we are not mindful of, we can take on as our own. But God called us out of the darkness into His glorious light. The things of God are no longer foolishness to us and instead, the ways of the world must become foreign to us:

Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 1Peter 2: 11 (NLT)

There is a war going on. Our flesh desires the things of this world. Our soul desires the temporal pleasures we can obtain in this world. The Spirit within us is from God however and desires and seeks the eternal. It wants nothing to do with the worldly desires that we are confronted with every day. This verse from Peter not only points these facts out but reminds us that we are but temporary residents and foreigners in this world. We are sojourners on a pilgrimage to the full restoration of fellowship with our creator. Thanks to His grace, we have been made alive in Christ:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2: 1-10

We used to follow the ways of this world and the pursuit of fleshly desires. We were "knee-deep" in the mire of the world (some of us even deeper) before God came and reached down to pick us up. For we are the very work God is doing. He is perfecting these works through Christ Jesus and it is for the purpose of doing good works. But let's be honest. We can grow weary.

The war still rages all around us. We are bombarded with the messages the world sends out and the lies Satan whispers into our ears. It is a lot easier to live like the world when you have to live in the world than to take a stand for God and do the good works He has called us to. Sometimes the messages are subtle; the lies are slight and we let them in. Because the truth is that the notion of growing weary has not to do with God, but everything to do with the world.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11: 28-30

We already were weary and burdened in the world without Christ. The rest we have been able to find is only found in Him. When looking up the definition of "yoke" we find that it means a device used to join two animals together at the neck; used for the purpose of work such as plowing. When we were in the world we were yoked to the world. We were yoked to the enemy. It was a cruel yoke and a harsh yoke. We would do the work and often receive pain and sorrow for our reward. Sure sometimes there may have been temporal pleasures but they always were ephemeral and short-lived. An interesting secondary definition of yoke however is:

An agency or emblem of subjection, servitude

There is an old Bob Dylan song that says "It might be the devil or it might be the Lord, but you're going to have to serve somebody." There is no third option beloved. If you are not serving the Lord then you are most certainly serving the enemy. But these verses from Matthew remind us that the yoke of God is easy and the burden light. The yoke of the world is hard and the burden heavy. The Lord is gentle and humble in heart whereas the world is callous and unforgiving. It is within Christ that we find the rest our souls so desperately need. But recognize that this is a matter of choice. When we choose the world we become enslaved by that choice. The enemy is a ruthless taskmaster. Christ is not. He does not force Himself. He says, "Come to me." He will not force His yoke upon you. He says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me."

Learn from me. Isn't that really the choice? We will either choose to learn from the world or from the Lord. We will either listen to the enemy or to God. The world will tell you that the things of God are foolishness. They will hide behind pseudo-science and experts of man and mock faith. Remember at the heart of all that teaching is simply the desire to place man in the role of God. It is exactly the same reason Lucifer was originally cast out of heaven:

You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." Isaiah 14: 13-14

And man has been trying to make himself to be the most high ever since Lucifer started whispering in Eve's ear in the Garden. Why? So we can make the rules. In the Garden they had but one rule don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was one rule too many. And so it still goes today. You see new religions popping up all the time that simply recreate the rules so the portions that make them uncomfortable are ignored. This buffet-style Christianity does not worship God though because at the heart of any worship of God must be obedience to Him. When you change vital portions of Scripture to allow your sin to be excusable, all you are doing is recreating God in the image of man.

But man makes a poor God. There is no rest found in the world. There is no rest found in man. The weariness only deepens there. Our key verse today from Paul's letter to the Church at Galatia implores us to not give up in our weariness. Searching for answers in the world is giving up. Dropping the yoke of Christ for the things of this world is giving up. Seeking the temporal over the eternal is giving up.

And God is reminding us here that we should not grow weary from doing good. There is a harvest coming beloved. There is nothing more peaceful then knowing you are in the center of doing the will of God in your life. But the world will distract you. The enemy will whisper into your life and try to pull your attention away from God. To which will you believe; to which will you acknowledge? The Gospel of Mark tells a story of Jesus and the disciples crossing the sea when a great storm came upon them:

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Mark 4: 37-40

Now, the furious squalls of this world will come upon you suddenly in your walk with God as well. The waves will break over your life too and things will seem as dire to you as they must have to the disciples that day on the sea. The enemy will whisper into your ear to distract you. He will whisper about how furious the storm looks. How intimidating the waves are. He will whisper about your own mortality and how you might not even survive this fierce tempest you are facing. What is he trying to distract you from beloved? Why does he want you concentrating so hard on the circumstances surrounding your boat?

Because he wants you to forget who is in your boat! That day on the sea the disciples had the Son of God in their boat with them. They had the one true God who created the entire universe with a single command. The God who told the seas they could come only this far. Yet they stopped looking at who was in their boat and focused instead on what was all around their boat. And so it can go for us as well. We can become so distracted by what is going on around our lives that we can forget who we have in our lives. Remember, the enemy whispers into your ear so you can forget the power you have residing within you. The Hope of Glory Christ in you. If we can ever just keep our focus on who is in our boat, then it wouldn't matter to us what was going on around our boat. If we could ever concentrate on who lives inside of us, then it wouldn't matter what was going on outside of us.

Yet there we can go to God in prayer and ask Him if He cares that we are drowning. He can answer right away and rebuke the storm in your life but He is really looking for your faith to be stronger than that. He is really looking for your faith to recognize that as long as He is in the boat, it doesn't matter what is going on around the boat. That day on the sea His disciples were weary of the storm and Jesus asked them why they had no faith. Today He is still asking where our faith is. When the storms of life and the distractions of this world set in and we grow weary, we need to only look to the back of the boat to see who is with us all the time. If Jesus can be sleeping on a cushion in the midst of the storms we are facing then we should take our cue from Him and rest as well. Rest in Him. He is in fact the Prince of Peace.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14: 27

The peace the world promises is momentary. It will pass and fade with time. Jesus gave us His peace specifically so we would not be troubled when the waves crashed over the boat of our lives. God understands that we can grow weary. Being pilgrims in a foreign land can grow tiresome. He wants us to take His yoke and learn from Him, not from the world which espouses man as God. He wants our focus to be on Him.

Look not at the clouds. Look not at the waves. Look not to what makes you weary. Look to from whom you learn. Look to your strength. Look to your God. His peace for our weariness is found simply at the back of the boat; resting comfortably in the midst of the storm.

Reverend Anthony Wade February 17, 2010